I've really had a lot going on. It's seriously exhausting.
My stay in Ende was short, and because I crammed all my work into recently, it was too exhausting. Ende is so vast. Just walking around and reading minds takes up a whole day.
Reading minds, organizing situations, moving, and reading minds again. It was a grueling task like searching for and organizing chronicles one by one in a haphazardly arranged library.
But well, humans also possess a side that feels ecstasy in such organizing work. Picking out exactly the Orcma from among tens of thousands, and selecting only them to ruin was secretly fun. Seeing them, who had been hiding among the citizens enjoying sweet fruits, gradually grow anxious, I felt a sense of accomplishment in my own way.
Today too, I finished my work simply, shook off my tail, and returned to the mansion. As I crossed the dim courtyard and was about to enter the mansion, two shadows flickered. The Regressor and Aji were waiting for me in front of the mansion.
What. Have you been waiting for me without sleeping until now? Unnecessary... But somehow my heart feels a bit warm. I didn't know that having someone waiting for me could be this heartwarming.
"Where have you been wandering around to come back only now?"
Cancel that. My heart that was warming up started to choke up with smoke again. Hearing the Regressor's sullen reply, I answered listlessly.
"Why? I went and worked just as Shea wanted."
"You could at least tell me what you're doing where, and when you'll be back. So I don't worry for nothing."
"Then did you explain anything before you went? Today you just said you'd be late and disappeared."
"I still came back late in the evening!"
"I didn't even have a chance to say when I'd be back. Couldn't you have listened a bit?"
Having nothing to say, the Regressor's face grew even more sullen.
'I am strong and roughly know what to be careful of at this hour, but even if you are the King of Humans, you've lost your power. What if you get hurt or die going alone without Aji?'
Your thoughts are kinder than your words? Just don't speak and only think. Or else honestly pour out everything. It seems like that would at least halve it.
"Don't just stand blankly outside the door and come in first."
'I don't know what you're doing, but you seem really busy, so you should rest.'
Swap your thoughts and words. You have a talent for making kind thoughts sound disagreeable.
Coming back, I saw the Manhan Quanxi sitting conspicuously on the dining table. Usually, the Regressor keeps that in her spatial dimension, but perhaps waiting for me, she hadn't put it away yet.
The Regressor placed her hand on the Manhan Quanxi and asked.
"Did you eat anything?"
"I roughly grabbed a bite while working."
"Do you want to eat?"
"It's before bed, so I'll skip it today."
"Speak quickly. I already pressed it."
Actions are faster than questions. I was a bit hungry, so I decided to thankfully eat. A mildly simmered red soup came out, and I gobbled it up, feeling my body warm up.
The Regressor, who waited until I finished eating, opened her mouth as soon as I put down the utensils.
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"You. Are you the Magician?"
"Gasp. How did you know that."
"Why are you surprised? You kept saying you were a magician whenever you did something."
"How do you remember that? I thought you'd have forgotten already."
"Why? You might not be famous, but I at least remember that much."
"Rather than my fame, I'm suspicious of Shea's memory."
"Hey!"
After exchanging friendly banter, the Regressor leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed.
"As I wandered around, I heard the name Magician. They say you're causing a huge ruckus in Ende? I couldn't not know."
"I'm not particularly causing a ruckus. I'm just pleasantly teasing people."
"Right. From what I hear, public sentiment isn't that bad?"
Oh. It already reached the Regressor's ears? This is a bit surprising.
"What's the public sentiment like?"
"To normal people, you're treated as a pleasant prankster. And Ende's Security Force and the Obelisks are also secretly welcoming you. They say the Magician only selects and ruins the guys who disturb the public order."
It's rewarding. I nodded with a proud heart. The Regressor looked at my reaction and said.
"So. What are you doing going around under the name of the Magician? The Security Force?"
"It's a bit different from the Security Force. They can't take any action before an incident occurs. Even if it does occur, it's hard to distinguish who is the villain and who got caught up in it."
"And you know?"
"Of course. Eavesdropping, sneaking in, deceiving, and acting. Hiding among humans and drawing out their desires. As the King of Humans, I'm good at things like that."
I left out only mind-reading while explaining, but the Regressor, who had experienced all sorts of bizarre abilities so far, accepted my achievements without any particular doubt.
"Before fighting the Wolf King, we need to fix Ende's order first. We'll have to concentrate all of Ende's combat power to fight against the Wolf King."
"What. When you actually work, you're good at it? You should have done it earlier!"
"This kind of prescription is like a stimulant, so if you do it for a long time, the effect wears off. Chaos comes from inequality, so if it's not fundamentally resolved, it will explode someday. Plus, once the other side gets used to it, they'll find another way."
Right now, since this is a foreign place and I'm running amok revealing all my tracks, the other side can't come to their senses, but if they happen to find out my identity by chance, at that moment I will go from a symbol of fear to a target that must be killed. If an external enemy appears, Orcma will also become firmer and stand against me.
'It's quite something. It doesn't help when actually fighting, but it really helps in other trivial parts.'
Say that out loud. Don't just let it pass in your thoughts. I'm leniently letting it go because I have mind-reading, but if it were someone else, I would have abandoned you and run away long ago.
"Understood. Nothing else you need?"
"Nothing in particular. Ah, they say even a worm will squirm if stepped on, so Ende's troublemakers seem like they'll cause a ruckus once. If we can just get past that, there will be no future troubles."
"Troublemakers? Should I dispose of them in advance?"
"It would be better for Ende to solve it themselves. Internal policing is a shortcut to creating a greater unity."
'Hehe. Indeed, the cases where Ende couldn't stop the Wolf King so far were when Ende's power was weakened. Hughes guy, you're a very convenient type when you become an ally. Getting along with everyone. Knowing human physiology well. If we're talking about governing, you'd probably be good at internal affairs... I want to park you at some base.'
Haha. What. Same goes for you. Rather than being convenient when you become an ally, you're the type who would be terrible if you became an enemy. If you become an enemy, you'll die without even knowing why in the next cycle.
"Since I did this kind of work, shall I now check what Shea did? What did Shea do?"
"I went to the Beast Faction and delivered Ende's message. The Wolf King is invading, so let's join forces for the peace of the plains."
"Do we even need their strength?"
"They are savages. If we don't reach out first, they might side with the Werewolves and invade Ende."
Ah, right. I heard the Werewolves joined forces with the Wolf King. The Wolf King is hostile to all humans, but he doesn't attack Werewolves, so he might form an indirect alliance with humans through them.
It works like a well-orchestrated machine. The Regressor had her own thoughts too.
"Orc Berserker Grull. Even though he's a pig beastman, if he, who has reached enlightenment, adds his strength to Ende, it'll be safe."
Oho. Orc Berserker. A strong one who reached enlightenment while being a beastman....
...Orc? Pig beastman?
A slightly ominous thought crossed my mind, but since he's not a citizen of Ende, it should be fine, right?
There is no group that exists without military power. If there is, please don't come out and refute this statement, but hurry up and hide. Another armed group will come and swallow you right up.
Orcma's armed faction 'Tusk' is a mercenary group made up of pig beastmen, and at the same time, it was the largest organization cooperating with Orcma.
The first Tusk, Urkfang, spoke to his subordinates.
"Two contact men connecting with the ranchers outside Ende have disappeared. Rumor has it they were stuck squirming on Ende's outer wall naked. Fifteen wagons turned into toy cards, and the draft horses paraded out carrying a drunk horse beastman on their backs, only to be recovered by the Ende Security Force."
Judging one by one, they are minor damages. However, all those damages gather and accumulate, worsening their cohesion.
"Above all, the Magician... he is attacking exactly only 'Orcma'."
The biggest reason Orcma could grow its power was their anonymity.
It is not surprising for beastmen to cause trouble. But Orcma hid among such beastmen.
Some act without even knowing they are part of Orcma. Some know but don't know exactly what they do. Some take on quite core roles but themselves commit no crimes.
Too trivial to care about, and unable to distinguish who is good or evil. Orcma, hidden in anonymity, expanded its power day by day.
"The Magician. He must not be left alone. For the glory of the orcs, no... at least to receive treatment equal to other beastmen. We must secure more interests. The days when orcs were persecuted. We cannot return to the days when chopping off an orc's neck on the street wasn't even considered a crime.... "
If it were those days, Orcma couldn't have been established in the first place. If they rioted, their necks would fly off immediately and they'd be tortured. Not themselves, but their families.
But not anymore. Ende is a city of beastmen and the treatment of pig beastmen has improved, and since the appearance of the Furred Saintess, it is impossible to kill beastmen indiscriminately like before. In this situation, distinguishing exactly who is Orcma is as difficult as precisely cutting out only the sick part from a body. If you cut wrong, the body suffers.
But the being called the Magician is doing just that. Whether he's really performing magic or not, just because of his existence, the orcs fearing being cut out were turning their backs on Orcma. If this continues, let alone the revival of the orcs, even their cohesion will collapse.
Urkfang, renewing his resolve, looked at his subordinates and asked.
"You spread the fake information, right?"
"Yes. We told the collaborators to gather here, saying we would decide on a password to deal with the Magician. If the Magician is getting information through some method, he would want to disrupt this meeting."
"Right. If the Magician comes ignorantly, the Tusk will bite his scruff."
"But we don't know who the Magician is. Can we find him?"
"There aren't that many humans in Ende. If a human comes here, it's safe to think of them as the Magician. As soon as you find one, report it immediately."
The Tusk hid in various places, waiting for a human who would innocently come here. The deceived collaborators also came, but they were sent back through a pre-made secret passage.
'When will you come, Magician. If your goal is Orcma. You wouldn't miss this opportunity.'
Like tusks hidden in a maw, they quietly but sharply aimed for their prey.
After a short while. Among some passersby, a person wearing a hood was seen slowly approaching. No bulging marks were visible above the deeply pulled hood.
"It's a human!"
Immediately, the Tusk leapt out of the maw. From the rooftops, behind the walls, and from underground, the Tusk surged and surrounded the human. The hooded human who approached panicked at the suddenly surging shadows and looked around.
"Found you. Magician."
Urkfang, approaching him, clashed his gauntlets threateningly and growled.
"How long did you think you could hide your identity?"
"I don't know who you are, but this is the end."
"Finally showing your tail."
There was no way the hooded human coming here right now could be anyone but the Magician. A simple but reasoned deduction. The orcs surrounded the human with confidence in the trap they had made.
But they needed to think a little harder.
That the Magician, who had been hiding his identity and stirring up Ende, would never approach so conspicuously.
"I don't have a tail."
The human, who declared proudly, threw off his hood forcefully. The Tusk, who tried to check the Magician's face, gasped at the identity revealed from under the hood.
"However. I do have feet to step on tails. It seems... the ones who revealed their tails are you."
Sapien. Ende's Official Envoy, and the Captain of the Obelisk.
Seeing Ende's strongest guardian, the Tusk panicked and looked at each other. Even if the Tusk was a famous mercenary group, they weren't heavily armed since they were inside the city... and the opponent was Obeli's strongest Envoy. Touching him was a problem, and they couldn't touch him in the first place.
"The, the Magician is..."
"An anonymous letter arrived at Obeli. It said that at this time, in this place, an unsavory group would form a gathering."
The moment the hood fell to the ground.
Bang. Sapien, who kicked the ground like lightning, grabbed one orc by the collar and slammed him to the ground. With a fierce strike like a beast, the orc lost both his consciousness and one Tusk.
Ende's warriors fight beasts. So they gradually become like beasts. They survive by mimicking the movements of beasts that survived in the wild.
Sapien, who incapacitated one with explosive Qi, snatched the gauntlet and fitted it on. It was bigger than his fist, but it didn't matter. Because his feral Qi was filling the gauntlet to the brim.
"Was the person who sent the letter the Magician. I should thank him. For giving me a chance to clean up the trash all at once."
"Ugh...!"
In a cornered situation, the Tusk made an extraordinary decision. Urkfang shouted.
"Scatter!"
Even if they fought, winning was uncertain. A bigger problem than that was that the opponent was an Envoy.
The one thing beastmen promised the principality to be recognized as a city of beastmen. Guaranteeing the safety of Envoys. If a beastman harms or attempts to harm an Envoy, Ende can take necessary measures.
The biggest one is that the home country, the Lilac Principality, can intervene.
The pig beastmen created Orcma for their revival. If they receive external interference before establishing their position, everything they've done so far will go down the drain. Praying that as few orcs as possible would be caught, he ordered a retreat.
But there was one more thing they overlooked.
"If you thought you could escape... I'm disappointed."
He was an Envoy who volunteered to stay alone in Ende while humans feeling the threat of wolves were leaving in droves. The city's guardian, the Obelisk, was not a human that a mere mercenary group could handle.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Every time the human's hands moved, one fell. Marks of orcs were stamped on the walls and floors. He ran amok kicking off the floors and walls like a beast.
Towards such a Sapien, Urkfang charged holding a gauntlet.
Boom. The collision between the orc and the human produced a loud noise. Finger-shaped iron shards flew out from the broken gauntlet. It was Urkfang's, whose Qi was relatively weaker.
Beastmen possess outstanding physical abilities but lack spiritual comprehension. This is why their Qi is relatively weak, and why they failed to become the mainstream of history.
Grabbing Sapien somehow with the crushed gauntlet, Urkfang shouted.
"Go! Scatter!"
"Captain...!"
"Hurry!"
"A tear-jerking effort."
Sapien immediately flipped his body and slammed him to the ground. The orc's back crashed into the ground. Leaving him gasping for air, Sapien headed to catch the rest.
At that moment, the orc's strong hand grabbed the hem of Sapien's clothes. Urkfang, bleeding from his mouth, put more strength into his grip.
"You can't go...!"
"Hmm."
The tear-jerking resistance was also in vain. Sapien's fist and kicks mercilessly struck Urkfang. Only after the orc's massive body flew through the air more than five times did the strength leave his grip.
But the time he bought was quite valuable. While time was being dragged out, the Tusks took their fallen comrades and completely vanished.
Sapien, brushing off the hem of his clothes, muttered as he looked at the street where the orcs had disappeared.
"I should have brought some subordinates if I knew this would happen."
He was confident he wouldn't get hurt. But he didn't think about catching all the fleeing orcs. It was unavoidable because the Magician's letter was delivered so suddenly.
But catching even one is something. There are many ways to make him open his mouth. If the opponent is a pig beastman, there are even more.
"Anyway... the Magician. Who could he be."
What his identity was, the one who caused a stir in the city. Curiosity arose, but Sapien didn't place much significance on it.
If it helped the city, he was just willing to use it gladly.